Just because I'm dead, doesn't mean I'm gone
by FantasyIsMyReality159
Summary: Four friends battling to keep their lives and their secrets safe, but can they do both without one happening or the other?


_My stomach hurts. My stomach hurts. My stomach hurts. My stomach hurts! _

The words haunted her like a ghost on Halloween. Every day, at the exact same time, her stomach would turn to flips and knots and would just ache. Like someone had grabbed an old rusty pitchfork and shoved it through her abdomen. Nothing could relieve the pain until the clock struck 3:00 o'clock. The ache was ever lasting, like some force decided to pick on her for all eternity. It was cruel and unfair punishment.

"How does it feel today?" Dr. Wong asked her, setting her glasses on the edge of her pointy nose.

"Like a bird is yanking out my intestines as I hang from a cliff." She answered.

"Was that a comparison to a Greek Myth, darling?" Dr. Wong laughed slightly and scribbled something down in the cheetah printed notebook she carried around with her. She looked back up at her patient. "Have we come to agreement on why this hurts?"

She nodded slightly, looking down at her freshly painted nails. "I believe you now."

"Good," her doctor replied, "we're making progress on ditching denial."

_Ditching denial wasn't going to solve a single thing! Denial was the only thing keeping me from reliving what I had to endure._

"I think that's enough work for today, Janet." Dr. Wong decided, standing up on her feet. The doctors' high heels weren't helping her height one bit; she was still about 4'9. It bothers her deeply that she was the one to get the short doctor…

Janet Cunningham looked up at her with sorrowful eyes, "Alright," she answered back, grabbing her purse and swinging it over her shoulder. She didn't wait for a good bye hug or even a good bye; she stormed out of the office and into the waiting room.

And just like she'd thought would happen every day she came here, every minute she sat in that stone cold, badly decorated room, she bumped into the one person she'd been trying to avoid for almost a year now.

"Janet!" Nick roared, hugging her out of the blue. He squeezed her tightly, and when finally letting go he smiled down at her.

_Now look who's short!_

"Nick," Janet stuttered, still angry with herself for putting her guard down, "why are you here?"

"I'm picking my little sister up from therapy," he replied, brushing a lock of stray hair backwards.

_He always was so obsessed with his appearance. I guess something's never change._

"Oh," Janet answered, "Well I've got to get going."

Nick obviously ignored the last sentence because he'd kept on talking about what he'd been up to for the past few months, "I haven't heard from you in a while!" He concluded at the end of a story about his job at the pizza place, "Why'd we lose contact?"

Janet shrugged, not really wanting to answer that truthfully. Nick had been the one to get that awful vision, and she sure didn't want to be around him if he got anymore. If she was going to die in the next minute, she'd rather let it happen and rest in peace, than know about it, cheat death, and have to out run it.

Nick didn't wait for a verbal answer; he dug out a loose piece of paper from his pocket and grabbed a pen from the check in desk. After he'd finished writing something he handed it over to Janet and smiled brightly.

_He's so oblivious to the fact that I never wanted to speak with him. Why can't he see that now?_

On the paper was Nick's phone number, most likely a mobile number. "I'll be sure to call you soon," Janet lied, side stepping him and charging out of the door.

"I'm not kidding!" Lori laughed, shoving another sweet potato fry into her mouth, "He really said that." Wendy, her new friend she'd met during a summer camp for teens, rolled her eyes playfully.

"He's a player," Wendy answered, sipping some water, "I say, you tell him no and move on."

"I think I should give someone as sweet as him a chance." Lori replied.

"Ew," Wendy whispered, "creep is checking you out over there." She gestured her head over by the drink counter. And she was totally right. There stood the tall pudgy figure of Hunt Wynorski, his hair parted backwards like it always was, cargo pants pulled up to waist length and a button down polo shirt his mother probably picked out.

As soon as Lori and he made eye contact he walked over to her. "I thought you moved away, Lori?" He asked her, as if they'd run into each other a thousand times. She hadn't spoken a word with her old friend in a bit over 8 months now. Last she heard from him, he was with some Asian girl named Ming and he was happy.

"I decided to come back." She deadpanned, wanting the conversation to be over.

"Well welcome back to McKinley Pennsylvania," Hunt laughed, as if it were some kind of joke. "Have you heard from Nick or Janet?"

Lori shook her head, and eyed Wendy desperately, as if pleading for her to make up an excuse from them to leave. "I haven't talked to Jan in about a year, never plan on doing it again. Nick? He left me, Hunt, though I wouldn't go back if my life depended on it."

Wendy stood up from her chair and set down a twenty on the table, "Lori, we're going to be late for the movies if we don't hurry. Let's scatter."

Lori smiled gratefully, and looked back to hunt, fake sympathy in her eyes, "We'll catch up later, alright?" She handed him a Janet's old cell phone number and held back a devious smile, "I'll be sure we hang out soon."

She got up and started walking away, arm and arm with Wendy; she laughed quietly, "I wouldn't talk to him again if I had to."

Janet tied her hair up in a short pink ribbon, pulled on her black flats, and shrugged on a cardigan. It wasn't like her to dress up for just an ordinary night; but she had a feeling that after running in with Nick, he wasn't the last of the old friends she was going to run into. She dabbed on the last bit of gloss she had left in the tube, brushed on another coat of blush and added a tad bit more of mascara. She looked stunning.

"I haven't seen you look like that in ages," her mother cooed as she walked down the stairs to the living room, "What's the occasion?"

Janet shrugged, trying to avoid further conversation. If she DID run into Lori tonight she didn't want to look like a slob, running around in sweat pants and a baggy basketball tee.

She opened the thick oak door and starred out into the night. The sky was dotted with dusty stars. The air whipped around her, tugging at the loose strands of hair she'd failed to put in the tie. Her legs shook with the temperature dropping. She felt… different. She took out the number Nick had given her after she'd made sure she was a good12 feet away from her house.

She typed it in and pressed send, and waited for an answer. "Hello?" Nick asked, picking up the phone.

"Hey!" Janet smiled softly to herself. Maybe gaining contact with him again wasn't as bad as she thought. "What's up?"

"Jan," Nick laughed, "I'm not doing much at the moment, just chilling on the couch."

"Want to hang out? I mean; since you've got nothing to do, and neither do I, why spend Friday alone?"

"Sounds great to me," Nick gave her directions to his new house that his Mother had bought a few days after they lost contact.

Instead of taking her car like she'd originally planned, she hopped on her bike and hoped for the best. She pedaled at a normal pace on the cracked sidewalks, making a few sharp turns here and there. She managed to weave her way through the streets and stay on the bike.

It took her a good 20 minutes to actually find the house one the rode, but she could pick out the mini-van with Lori A Milligan written on one side, Janet J Cunningham written on another, Hunt M Wynorski on the front and Nick J O'Bannon on the back.

She set her bike down in the overly green grass and headed up towards the door. The porch looked old and rusty. The door looked like one of a beaten down trailer. She knocked lightly, in fear that the whole door would collapse.

The door swung open, and to answer it was the friendly face of Nick. He was smiling happily, like this was going to be his first time out in ages. He had on a polo stripped shirt, it was yellow and black, and he looked like an over grown bee. His pants were black and went down to his knees. He looked decent. After being in such a… disaster… Janet always thought all four of them would be gloomy and downers for the rest of their lives, but turns out, they'd all moved on or at least in Nick's case.

"Wow," he whispered, looking her Janet's outfit, "Why so dressed up?"

Janet again shrugged off the question, "I just didn't feel like slogging around in my usual attire."

Nick nodded and closed the door as he stepped out onto the porch next to her. "I'm real glad you called. In the office you seemed cold, like you were shunning me out."

_So he had noticed!_

"Calling you surprised myself," She laughed faintly, "I guess I just feel alone."

"I can relate," Nick pointed out, sitting down in a porch chair. He seemed so relaxed.

"After… we all drifted part… what happened between you and Lori?"

_Wait… did that come out like I was asking if he was single._

He smiled slightly, "I told her that if she wasn't going to be around that it was better if we stayed friends. She'd scoffed and said, 'friends? screw off, O'Bannon.'"


End file.
